Political Ideologies: Liberalism, Conservatism, Socialism, and the End of History

Opposition to Absolutism: Rose against political absolutism, such as absolute monarchy, which often devolved into tyranny.
Constitutionalism: Advocates for constitutional government to limit state power and arbitrary incursions, ensuring freedom.
Economic Freedom: Opposed to 'ascribed status' (e.g., being stuck in a profession due to birth); championed freedom to trade and enter contracts without state interference.
Core Principle: Primacy of the individual and individualism.

Skepticism of Reason: Distrusts excessive reliance on individual reason, believing it can lead to arrogance and destruction of political institutions.
Human Flawedness: Views humans as flawed creatures; advocates for the state's role in cultivating identity and tradition, not neutrality on the 'good life'.
Tradition: Anti-revolution; emphasizes preserving tradition, warning against radical deviation which can cause disorder.
Fiscal Conservatism: Focuses on limiting government size, responsible public spending, and lower taxation. Distinct from social conservatism.
Neo-conservatism (New Right): Advocates for shaping the world in its own image, often through exporting liberal democracy (e.g., US foreign policy). Paradoxically, this can be anti-conservative by imposing foreign values on other cultures.

Critique of Liberalism: Argues that unchecked free markets lead to class polarization, where the wealthy exploit the poor.
Marxist Theory: Proposes history is a class struggle. Workers, realizing their exploitation, become class-conscious and revolt to become owners of the means of production.
Marxism-Leninism: Emphasizes the need for a disciplined party of revolutionaries to guide workers to class consciousness.
Democratic Socialism: Aims to achieve socialist goals (e.g., promoting economic well-being for all) within liberal democratic institutions, via democratic means rather than violent revolution, safeguarding political liberties.
Social Democracy: Seeks to make capitalism more humane through state intervention and social welfare, distinct from democratic socialism which typically aims to transcend capitalism.
Stalinism: Is seen as a perversion that discredits the true cause of socialism, which, for Marx and Engels, included democratic values.

Advocates for the total shrinking or abolition of the state, allowing for complete individual liberty or capitalist markets to operate without interference (variants exist on both left and right).

Context: Proposed in 1989 following the fall of state socialist ideology.
Core Claim: Argues that history, in an ideological sense, has reached its endpoint with the universalization of Western liberal democracy.
Implications: Suggests the world will primarily consist of liberal democracies, leading to 'common marketization' of international relations and reduced large-scale conflict.
Clarification: Fukuyama clarified he didn't mean the end of events, but the cessation of credible ideological alternatives to liberal democracy.